Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Pat Lucke Morris and Sigrun Wolff Saphire, editors.
Growing Bonsai Indoors.
Brooklyn, N.Y.: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 2009.
paper, 119 pp., ISBN 978–1–8895–3842–6, $9.95.

One in a series of All-Region Guides, this handy book is a primer for novice bonsai growers. It covers the fundamentals of this craft, directing attention to the styles, general rules for each type, and care of specimens. Watering, lighting, and how to wire plants are a few of the basic instruction that will start a new grower on the road to success. Illustrations include portraits of 24 trees with hints on how to select the best specimen and grow healthy works of art. A useful directory of sites featuring bonsai collections and a listing of websites of bonsai clubs and societies provide the new grower with information and incentive to learn even more about growing beautiful tropical and subtropical bonsai.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.